Set to be released on Oct. 20, “Wonderstruck” offers insight into many worlds — particularly that of the deaf community.

Based on Brian Selznick’s young adult novel of the same name, “Wonderstruck” highlights the silent world through its main characters Ben and Rose. Rose was born deaf, and through an accident of nature — being hit by lightning — Ben becomes deaf. The film and the book are set in two different decades: the 1920s and the 1970s.

Rose is portrayed by newcomer Millicent Simmonds, a deaf actress who uses sign language. Ben is played by Oakes Fegley. In one of her two roles, Oscar winner Julianne Moore portrays an older deaf woman. Both Fegley and Moore are hearing. Oakley speaks, but Moore does not say a word in either of her two roles.

Read more articles and stay in touch with your local news by clicking here

Selznick, who grew up in the township, had some personal experience with the concept of deafness. His brother, Dr. Lee Selznick, a prominent neurosurgeon, was born deaf in one ear, but he doesn't identify as deaf or disabled. If he doesn't hear something well, he just turns his head to hear better.

The idea of highlighting the deaf community was borne from the creative process, in a "somewhat backwards" way, Selznick said.

"When I wrote the book, I had the idea for the structure of the story before I had any ideas for the plot," he said. "I wanted tell a story that was half words and half pictures. I just needed to find a story that would make sense in pictures. I saw a documentary called "Though Deaf Eyes' and its where I learned the idea that the deaf world is a visual world and it gave me the idea to tell the story with pictures so that they would parallel that experience."

He thought about the deaf people that he has known and interviewed two of the leading deaf scholars in the country — Carol Padden and Tom Humphries.

"I was able to do research on the history of deaf culture and deaf schools and history of sign language and people's attitudes towards sign language which has changed over the years," he said. "The more I wrote, the more I became intrigued by the deaf community."

Selznick felt it crucial that when deaf people read 'Wonderstruck' it would feel accurate.

"When it was time to turn it into a movie I was aware that issues were going to shift a little bit because we were going to have people actual human beings playing these characters," said Selznick, who wrote the screenplay for "Wonderstruck." "It was very important to all of us that we have a deaf actress play young Rose."

Selznick also learned that in the silent movie era, deaf actors were often cast because they were so expressive and had "a natural ability to get across ideas with their bodies, faces and expressions.

"I had the idea to cast deaf across as hearing people in the silent movie part of 'Wonderstruck'," he said. "We have five deaf actors playing and had a sign language class for the entire crew before the filming began so everybody would have a basic understanding. We had a deaf teacher and interpreter come in and talk about all the different ways you can communicate with a deaf person. And make sure everybody felt comfortable simply figuring out how to communicate with each other. That's a big part of my book — how people communicate with each other."

There were days on the set where deaf actors, hearing actors, interpreters, crew and others working together to film scenes. Dame Evelyn Glennie, a deaf percussionist, played on the soundtrack scored by composer Carter Burwell and there was a Deaf Advisory Board to help advise “the best ways to bring the community into the film and the film into the community,” he added.

“We were working very hard to make sure everyone feels included and I just wanted everyone to understand that the topic be treated seriously and with great respect,” Selznick said. “The deaf actors told us that they had never been on a set where it was integrated as well as it had been in “Wonderstruck.’ It was a real model for how films can work very comfortably with both deaf and hearing people.”